


The Last Days and Endless Nights of Luke Snyder

by starlurker



Category: As the World Turns
Genre: Alternate Universe, Crack, M/M, Vampires
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-08-16
Updated: 2010-08-16
Packaged: 2017-10-11 03:13:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,320
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/107724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starlurker/pseuds/starlurker
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Reid Oliver, M.D., V.M.D.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Last Days and Endless Nights of Luke Snyder

**Author's Note:**

> Crack fic written for newssodark who requested vampires in the lure_prompts community in LJ

When Luke first saw Reid's business card, he didn't think much of it. It was on ivory card stock with faint silver accents along the top and bottom, and it glowed in the dark, dark being often the case with Reid's room. Luke burst in and saw Reid without a shirt on slurping loudly from a red juice pack on the bed. He tried not to pay too much attention to the pale, muscular chest on display.

"M'starving," Reid said, his mouth and tongue a lurid red. "Entertain yourself for a bit while I finish."

So Luke looked at the business card dispenser on the desk and saw Reid's surprisingly subtle cards.

> Reid Oliver, M.D., V.M.D.  
> Chief of Neurosurgery  
> Oakdale Memorial Hospital Neurosurgery Wing  
> T: 815-555-7890 (nights)  
> F: 815-555-9823  
> E: r.oliver@oakdalememorial.com

  
"What's the V for?" Luke asked.

"Vampire," Reid said.

"Oh," Luke said, thinking about it for a little bit. "As in you're one, or you treat them, or both?"

"Both. Will that be a problem?" If Luke was a betting man, he would have thought there was a smidgen of uncertainty there, but this was Reid, who apparently was both figuratively and literally cool as a cucumber.

"Nah," Luke said. "It explains a lot though."

"What does that mean?" Reid asked.

"I always thought you were different. I didn't think vampire though," Luke said.

"What did you think?"

"Insomniac workaholic with social issues. Or a mandurugo, like from the Philippines. Damian's old bodyguard was one. I think his name was Steve. He turned into one while he was vacationing in Boracay."

Reid sighed. "Only in Oakdale," he said, "will people see a bloodsucker and think mandurugo and not vampire. Basic tenet of medicine, Mr. Snyder. When you hear hoofbeats, don't think of zebras."

Luke grinned. "I've had a zebra kind of life," he said.

"That shouldn't be as charming as you just made it seem," Reid said. He threw away the blood pack and yawned, which made his retractable fangs pop out.

"Cool!" Luke said. "Have you ever seen the spitting cobra from those National Geographic documentaries? You look sort of like that."

"And you call me bad with people," Reid scoffed. "You're comparing me to a slithering, jaw-dislocating, venom spitting, cold-blooded reptile."

"Well, the cold-blooded part's true enough," Luke said. "Is it bad to say I hope the jaw-dislocating part is true too?"

"Not when you've asked me to give you some time and not while you're in my bedroom saying it," Reid said.

"Sorry." Luke put his hands in his pocket. "How come you've always been warm when we've made out?" he asked, unable to help his curiosity.

"I was horny," Reid said, which in retrospect really was an obvious answer. "So what brings you here? Besides my naked sexual charisma."

Luke tried to remember and failed. "I've forgotten now," he admitted. "Sorry, didn't expect the vampire thing."

"But you expected a mandurugo?" Reid said incredulously.

"Or an insomniac workaholic with social issues!" Luke said, hating the defensive tone in his voice. "I'm not a complete idiot."

"Sorry, sorry," Reid said, putting his hands up. Luke crossed his arms and stared out the window and tried not to feel as awkward as he did.

"Hey," Reid said, his voice low. Luke looked at the bed and saw Reid sitting on the bed, looking like he was cast in marble with traces of red on his lips, with his pants hanging low enough that Luke could see the thick patch of dark hair near the button.

Sometimes, Luke thought, he really was an idiot. He could be having Reid right now, but his stupid zebra life gave him issues. He went in between Reid's spread out legs and felt Reid nuzzle his stomach.

"I'm not opposed to making out," Reid said, his breath a low breeze.

"Okay," Luke said, helpless and enthralled.

Reid looked up and his blue eyes gleamed like sunlit ocean water. "You can ask me three questions. I can see them forming behind those eyes. Then we can make out."

Luke had the best boyfriend ever. "Can you turn me into a vampire?"

"Yes," Reid said.

"Just like that?" Luke said.

"Just like that."

"What's it like?"

"You'll know when you are one," Reid said, and pulled him down to the bed, rolling on top of him.

"One more question."

Reid rested his weight on his elbows to think. "I'll allow it."

"How generous of you," Luke noted dryly. "How come your fangs never popped out before?"

"I have very, very good control of my body," Reid said, and smiled the nastiest smile that Luke had ever seen on anyone, ever. He felt a shiver of excitement course through his body and knew he was sunk.

***

"Mom, Dad?"

They both looked at him while being pathetically obvious about pretending like they didn't want to tear each other's clothes off. Luke tried not to roll his eyes.

"Can I talk to both of you guys for a sec? It's important."

"Sure, honey," Mom said, while Dad chose to sit on the armrest right beside her. Trying not to roll his eyes was becoming very difficult. He picked the single chair opposite them.

"Is everything all right?" Dad asked.

"It is. I think I've finally decided what I want to do with the rest of my life," Luke said.

"Oh honey, that's wonderful!" Mom looked up to Dad and if Luke was still a teenager, he'd have taken a picture and drawn rainbows and hearts between them.

"What do you want to be?" Dad asked.

"I'm becoming a vampire," Luke said.

His parents' faces froze into expressions somewhere in between smiles and like they had just sat on something wet.

"But honey," she said. "Why?"

"For a lot of reasons, Mom. It makes a lot of sense."

"But Luke, I thought you grew out of your mandurugo phase," his dad said. "Even Damian had to let his go after a while when he kept finding dead rabbits in his limousine."

"It's an actual vampire this time, Dad."

His parents looked confused until his mom figured it out. "Reid," she said, stunned.

"I asked him to turn me, Mom," Luke said.

His dad, always the unflappable, dependable one, nodded after a few minutes and went to kneel beside Luke. "I'll always support and love you, Luke. You know that."

"You thought I was going to say I wanted to become a writer, didn't you?" Luke said.

"Yeah," his dad admitted. He saw his mom nodding too.

"I'll be a vampire who writes," Luke said. His parents smiled at him – shaky and tentative – and gave him a hug.

"My garlic tapenade," his mom wailed out of the blue. This time, Luke did roll his eyes.

***

The week before he became a vampire was bizarre.

Grandma: Why a vampire, dear? Werewolves are so much better. (Luke was desperately not thinking about why his grandma said that. Nope.)

Casey: Dude, how are we going to go surfing? Or on the beach? You'll always be pasty. Will a tanning bed kill you?

Faith: I hate Reid. Hate him, hate him, hate him!

Katie: I'll support you but only if you offer to babysit Jacob. A girl has needs too, you know.

Chris: I'm with Katie. (Luke: _Gross_.)

Dr. Hughes: I'll make sure all the board meetings are at 6:00pm at the earliest, but I can't promise anything during Daylight Savings Time.

Henry: My grandma was a leprechaun, or so my mom said.

Noah: I'm one-fourth elf from my mom's side. My middle name is Elrond. Wasn't that enough?

***

"That's how you become a vampire? By IV?" It still wasn't quite registering in Luke's head, that becoming a vampire meant going to a sterile hospital room in Oakdale for intravenous treatment.

"Yes," Reid said. "What did you think it involved?"

"Not this!"

Reid sighed. "Which one?"

"Which one what?"

"Which book did you read?" Reid started counting books off his fingers. "Stoker's full of shit because I'm telling you right now, I'm not turning into a bat. Rice got some parts right, but if I stare at the aisles of a convenience store because I'm hypnotized by bottles of shampoo, tie me up and drag me out into the sun. If you read Harris, I'm telling you right now that there are no vampire sheriffs, kings and queens."

Luke bristled at the speech. "It's not my fault you guys are so damned secretive. Seriously, would it kill you guys to have a good website?"

"You're talking to a lot of people who are hundreds of years old. My maker sent his first e-mail before he died in 2007, Luke. Believe it or not, just like people, 95% of us are criminally stupid, and Luddites to boot."

"How did your maker die?"

"He drank some blood mixed with holy water," Reid said, shaking his head.

"Why?"

"Because he was stupid," Reid said. "He was in a church and drank from a vegetarian. He needed water to cool it down and got it from the church's supply of holy water."

"Vegetarians have spicy blood?" Luke asked.

"The spiciest. Watch out for them." Reid paused for air. "Vampires don't work like True Blood, Luke. We're just like humans in many ways. We get forgetful when we get old sometimes. The only difference between a 100-year-old man and a 100-year-old vampire is that the vampire usually looks better."

"Then what's the fucking point?" Luke yelled.

"You'll look good in the vampire nursing home!" Reid yelled right back. "Now shut up and let me hook the IV up."

"How in the world did you guys last this long? I thought that's what the fangs were for."

Reid was breathing in deliberately slow patterns, which meant he was really pissed off. "Luke, it takes two weeks of constant biting and sucking to do it the old fashioned way. You want gangrene of the neck? You go to another vampire."

"It sucks!" Luke said. He felt betrayed by the IV. Seriously, where was the blood sex with fangs? Where was Reid holding him face down on the bed while he slurped on AB negative with traces of anti-rejection medication and old liquor? He didn't know how much he was looking forward to Reid biting him until Reid brought out the IV like it was a bouquet of flowers.

Reid busied himself with the tap-tap-tap to find a vein on Luke's arm. "Believe it or not," he said, seeming to make a point of continuing to look down, "this is romance. I don't want you hurt."

Luke felt his disappointment dissipate, at least enough to close his eyes and wait for the effect of Reid's blood.

***

_blood sex magic raw REID oh my God pulse life nape neck FUCK skin rasp nails-down-my-back musk life SEX red vital sharp tang throat heart crisp garlic tapenade cock ass back LOVE hurts good sleek slide PAIN PAIN smooth fingers breath memory pound throb now now now animal FUCK salt sweet burn burn arch high must REID. REID. REID._

***

Luke woke up to the feel of fingers brushing his face. He opened his eyes and the first thing he saw was his maker's face, probably the smartest vampire in the world, one who wouldn't die because he made a virgin Caesar with holy water. They'd be the best looking pair at the vampire nursing home, that's for sure.

***

The week after he became a vampire was irritating.

Mom: I thought you'd look more different.

Dad: Huh. I was expecting you to be paler.

Faith: I hate Reid! Hate him, hate him, hate him!

Grandma: A damned shame. That wolf I had you matched up with would have been perfect for you.

Casey: Will a tanning bed kill you? Seriously, I need to know.

Katie: I'll be home by 12am at the latest. Don't wait up! Jacob should be asleep by 8:30 at the latest.

Dr. Hughes: The late meetings shouldn't be a problem. Dr. Collins turned into a mandurugo just last night.

Henry: For some reason, I thought you'd be wearing shirts with frilly collars now.

Noah: Okay, so I'm only one-eighth elf. Give me a break!

***

Nights took on a whole new meaning. Reid still had people surgery and the occasional vampire surgery. He didn't get the Chief of Staff job because people were prejudiced against vampires. Luke was tempted to form a local BSAB (Bloodsucker Advocacy Board) with Reid and Dr. Collins, but Reid said it was too much hassle. Like Reid, he drank people's blood only if it was willingly given but also discovered a taste for rabbit blood courtesy of Dr. Collins. One of Grimaldi's new imports was rabbits from England.

Reid taught him how to run fast without doing property damage. They went on midnight runs that went from Illinois to Florida to California to Canada on hot summer nights and bracingly cold winter nights and everything else in between. As much as Luke resisted it, he eventually ended up in the middle of a Walgreens staring at bottles of mouthwash while they were in Boca Raton. Vampire vision added so much texture, shape and definition to everything he saw and mouthwash, shampoo and Gummi Bears were like paintings he could stare at for hours.

On most nights though, Luke got the face down on the bed, or on the grass, or on the beach sex that he thought came part and parcel of being a vampire. He did the same to Reid, who looked good begging as Luke pounded into him, both of them unafraid of getting hurt because they couldn't.

There were more perks – Luke was sure of it. The best part was always Reid's face as he taught Luke the intricacies of vampire life. Reid looked content most of the time, his restlessness already just a memory.

THE END


End file.
